Spanish bank Santander said first quarter net profit dropped 24 percent after it took a 3.1 billion euro ($4.1 billion) provision to cover rising loan defaults, as the effects of Spain's property market crash were compounded by economic recession and joblessness afflicting nearly one in four workers.

Although results from Barclays and Deutsche Bank showed investment banking income bounced back strongly after a torrid end to last year, the sickly euro zone economy continues to dog the industry.

Barclays beat analysts' forecasts with a 22 percent rise in underlying first-quarter profit to 2.45 billion pounds, as revenues at Barclays Capital, the investment bank that provides the bulk of its profit, rose to 3.5 billion pounds, up 91 percent on a weak fourth quarter and up 3 percent from a year ago.